Miles is unable to locate Edward but decides to continue searching. Switching to Edward’s point of view, the narrative returns to when he was in the King’s Arms. Edward follows a boy who tells him that Miles has summoned him, but in reality, John Canty has laid a trap and abducts him. They go to a barn outside London, and it is revealed that the rest of the Canty family has disappeared following their escape from Offal Court. Canty intends to escape London with a large band of thieves, beggars, and tramps.

The band arrives at the barn and engages in a drunken party. John discusses what has brought him to this group and made him leave London, which prompts many others to share their stories; they are generally filled with hardship and excessive punishment. Most notably, one farmer named Yokel talks about how his family was whipped, which caused his wife and children to die, and his debts brought him into slavery. Edward is horrified by this story, announcing his identity with the promise that he will end the laws that forced an English-born man into slavery.